Roche acknowledges the obvious, extends Spark buyout deadline

"Good things almost always take time," Roche CEO Severin Schwan wrote in a note to Spark employees.

By Jonathan Gardner • July 8, 2019

BioPharma Dive's 10 biggest stories of the spring

Developments in gene therapy, cancer treatments, drug pricing and dealmaking kept the industry in the headlines.

By Jacob Bell • July 3, 2019

Array pushed Pfizer for a higher price to get deal done

Array is the third targeted cancer biotech acquired since December for which only one serious bidder emerged. Yet deal details show pharma as still willing to put up a premium.

By Jonathan Gardner • July 1, 2019

AbbVie deal for Allergan not about the taxes, thanks to 2017 law

AbbVie will stay in the U.S. if its deal goes through — a departure from Pfizer's plan in a failed 2015 attempt to merge with the Ireland-based Allergan.

By Jonathan Gardner • June 26, 2019

5 reasons AbbVie bought Allergan, and why they may not be enough

The $63 billion deal secures a post-Humira future for AbbVie, its executives argue. But such a massive acquisition isn't a sure thing to play out as expected.

By Andrew Dunn • June 26, 2019

Conatus hits all-time low as company explores strategic alternatives

In addition to a business review, Conatus said it will cut about 40% of its workforce in a restructuring.

By Jacob Bell • June 25, 2019

AbbVie buying Allergan in $63B deal for its post-Humira future

Unlike Bristol-Myers' takeover of Celgene, AbbVie's cash-and-stock offer for Allergan was not about R&D. "We're not betting on the pipeline," said AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez. 

By Ned Pagliarulo , Andrew Dunn • June 25, 2019

Bristol-Myers price for Celgene now includes Otezla sell-off

A Federal Trade Commission review spurred the divestiture plan, as the combined company would otherwise have two marketed drugs and one experimental project in inflammatory disease.

By Jonathan Gardner • June 24, 2019

Catalent to buy Bristol-Myers plant to grow biologics, European business

The deal also brings an assured customer, as Catalent agreed to continue manufacturing Bristol-Myers Squibb's products at the Italian site.

By Jacob Bell • June 19, 2019

Pharmacquired: Is $11B enough to secure Sanofi's spot in hemophilia?

Gene therapies and other long-acting treatments are threatening to outdate the drugs Sanofi got from its Bioverativ deal.

By Jacob Bell • June 19, 2019

Pfizer goes big on targeted cancer therapies with $11.4B Array buy

The big pharma said Array's scientists would remain independent post-acquisition, emphasizing the need to fill its pipeline with new drugs.

By Jonathan Gardner • June 17, 2019

UniQure shares hit record high after news report of potential sale

Wall Street analysts see the biotech benefiting from big pharma's interest in gene therapies.

By Andrew Dunn • June 17, 2019

Celgene dips out of deals ahead of mega-merger

Immuno-oncology deals between the company and two smaller biotechs have fizzled in the last week, fueling the notion Celgene will trim down partnerships as it comes under Bristol-Myers ownership.

By Jacob Bell • June 17, 2019

Moody's: Amgen, Biogen, Gilead have 'high capacity' to do M&A

The credit rating agency expects more deals across the pharma sector, with particular interest on targets that make cancer drugs or gene therapies.

By Jacob Bell • June 13, 2019

FTC demands could mean months-long delay for Roche-Spark deal

A rare "second request" for info on Roche's cash buyout tasks both companies with providing extensive documents and executive testimony.

By Jonathan Gardner • June 12, 2019

Sobi restructuring business around late-stage hematology, immunology drugs

By reorganizing its R&D, Sobi expects to save up to $32 million in 2020, money that will then go toward late-stage drug development.

By Jacob Bell • June 12, 2019

Merck to buy private Tilos in deal worth up to $773M

Founded three years ago, Tilos Therapeutics has an early portfolio of TGF-beta drugs that may now be tested as combination therapies.

By Andrew Dunn • June 10, 2019

Vertex sets sights on DMD gene therapy, joining crowded field

Cash-rich deals with CRISPR Therapeutics and Exonics could make Vertex a challenger to companies already in the clinic with muscular dystrophy treatments.

By Ned Pagliarulo • June 7, 2019

Fresh off being bought, Apceth preps to supply Bluebird's gene therapy

Apceth, now a part of Hitachi Chemical, will serve as the commercial manufacturer in Europe for Bluebird's just-approved gene therapy, Zynteglo.

By Jacob Bell • June 6, 2019

PE firm nabs Vibalogics, banking on demand for complex viral products

The deal brings 50 employees and a 27,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Germany under the ownership of Ampersand Capital Partners.

By Jacob Bell • May 30, 2019

Amicus widens UPenn gene therapy collaboration

The Galafold maker is looking beyond protein engineering as it tries to treat genetically driven metabolic disorders.

By Jonathan Gardner • May 29, 2019

Evotec to buy Just Biotherapeutics for up to $90M

The purchase offers Germany-based Evotec some new technology as well as a stronger foothold for U.S.​ growth.

By Kristin Jensen • May 23, 2019

WuXi Biologics building dedicated facility to supply 'global vaccine leader'

Though the Chinese company didn't name its latest partner, it did say the pair have in place a 20-year manufacturing contract worth more than $3 billion.

By Kristin Jensen • May 23, 2019

Merck puts $1B more into oncology, with kidney cancer a focus

Acquiring Peloton Therapeutics hands Merck a small molecule medicine headed for a Phase 3 renal cell carcinoma trial later this year.

By Jacob Bell • May 21, 2019

UK charity sells Keytruda rights for $1.3B

A 2007 deal promised Lifearc royalty payments on the immunotherapy, which went on to become a multibillion-dollar product for Merck.

By Jacob Bell • May 20, 2019